I recently took a trip to Indonesia (and Malaysia) to teach the final course in the Master’s in Youth Ministry course at the Jaffray Seminary in Jakarta. We were finishing up a program that started more than a few years ago with six students. Two of them made it to the end, having completed all of the requirements for graduation.
Nyoman and Mitchell persevered through many trials and did the hard work that was required of them to successfully complete the program, and they will be officially awarded their Master’s of Youth Ministry at the Seminary’s graduation this year.
While I was there, we had a celebration ceremony to honor them and their hard work as well as give them a certificate from Youth Ministry International. Nyoman’s words in this video (and the ones that both he and Mitchell expressed throughout the class) will stick with me for a long time.
I wanted to share a portion of what Nyoman said in this video:
I am excited about the future of youth ministry in Indonesia. These two guys and the rest of the team there (including David, the translator and program coordinator) are primed and ready to take youth ministry to the next level.
I am praying that they will continue to push through the obstacles and take the gospel to the next generation.
I recently went on a trip to Ecuador for ministry. I was there to meet up with my former students, Edgar and Karyna, and to talk with a local Seminary about the possibility of starting a youth ministry program.
We made a video for the YMI banquet this year, and this is the portion that covers Latin America and what God has continued to do there even since we moved back to the United States.
You may not know, but I’m still the director of YMI’s Latin American ministry, and I’m excited to see how God continues to work in Mexico and Cuba. He has raised up a generation of youth leaders who are training others and ministering effectively to young people.
Please continue to pray for the YMI ministry in Latin America.
Sometimes I don’t think I understand the domino effect and how the discipleship and training process actually works. It amazes me how it happens when God takes something small and moves it into the hearts and lives of others to the point where they tell someone else who is then equipped to teach it to others.
The little seed that gets planted keeps spreading, and most of the time, we don’t have any idea how far it goes.
This is happening in Africa. We started a youth ministry training program in Nigeria last December. Even this program has an origin story that goes back far beyond December. But the point of this post is to tell you where the program in Nigeria is taking youth ministry training. The short answer is that I don’t know because the students are taking training to the nations.
I saw this on my student Samuel’s Facebook page yesterday:
When these leaders leave this training, they will eventually go back to their six countries and train others. They will train others in Benin, Togo, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Uganda, and Nigeria. Their ministry will continue on and on, and while we try to keep track, it often goes to places we don’t know. It’s so exciting! I’m looking forward to see how God continues to move in Africa.
I’ve been writing about my trip to Cuba since I went. It was an incredible experience, and I am still processing all of the stories from everyday. Here’s another story about an incredible guy I met–a story that speaks about 2 Timothy 2:2 in a powerful way.
I had the opportunity to meet Alex, the youth pastor of a church in a neighborhood that is very spiritually needy. Giancarlos, my former student, told me about how this area was a very spiritually dark place and that Alex’s ministry was vital to reach the youth there.
Alex uses sports ministry to draw the interest of young people in the area. Each week they meet together to play soccer, and the students in his church youth group invite their unbelieving friends to play with them, giving them an opportunity to build relationships with those who do not go to church.
This group usually has to borrow a soccer ball from someone in order to play, and a local school lends them the field to play on. When we were there, about 8-10 of the guys who were playing with our group were from Alex’s group. Their faces lit up when we gave them two soccer balls and a pump, and they now have more opportunities to reach their friends for Christ using sports. (more…)
I spent some time this week helping my friend Micah make some videos about the Adolescent Orphan Ministry he is starting with our organization, Youth Ministry International.
The story he tells grabs my attention because this entire ministry started with one person’s desire to do something daring and take a mission trip. Then one thing led to another and now there is an entire vision to connect local church youth ministries to adolescent orphans around the world and help them become followers of Jesus.
Remember, “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much” (Luke 16:10).
What is the one thing God is asking you to do today that you need to obey Him in?
If you want to know more about YMI’s Adolescent Orphan Ministry, be sure to visit pattersonfam.org.
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